Am I hurting my truck?

Hello, everyone,
Very new to off-roading and still trying to test the abilities of the truck. Aside from the unseen obstacles that could be in the water, am I hurting my vehicle at all just splashing through deep water?

 

Yes, splashing through deep water can potentially damage your truck, especially if the water is deep enough to reach the engine intake, which can lead to "hydrolocking" and serious engine damage; even if the water doesn't reach the engine, it can still cause issues like rusting components underneath, damaging electrical systems, and affecting brakes and transmission due to water intrusion.

 

If you keep doing that, yes.
The air intake inlet is behind your right front fender. If your engine ingests water you're going to have a bad time. You could get a snorkel if you'd like to play submarine more though!

PSA for you guys with viper cuts. Once you cut your fender liners your chance to ingest water goes up quite a bit. I'd suggest keeping some sort of fender liner in place for splash protection. Of course if you want to go through deep water then you'd need a snorkel regardless.

 

Some guys on here are pretty thorough and diligent after off-road excursions. They'll clean the underside and and lube the propeller shaft joints. If water might have gotten into differentials, they might just replace that oil to be safe. But as Borracho said, be mindful when doing this. Ask yourself if you're willing to deal with the potential results of barreling through that puddle in front of you. If not, drive around it and enjoy the day.

 

Hitting the water and creating a big splash like that looks awesome on video and in YouTube. In reality that's terrible for the truck and 100% not the way to do a water crossing.

You need to be in a lower gear, keep the RPM up and steady so water does not enter the exhaust, and you shouldn't be creating any splash, only a small bow wave. Otherwise you have the potential to shoot all that water up into your intake, the mechanical fan is splashing it around, and in extreme circumstances the fan can deform and destroy the radiator.

Edit: forgot to mention that I know someone who had to have the engine replaced in his 30k mile 3rden Tacoma after doing something similar.

https://youtu.be/i-CIVa3L5SI?si=SaGkxdKKDLl4B37B

 

Thanks for your time and the in-depth responses guys. I really appreciate it. : )

 

You could easily force water where it shouldn't be, like the intake, by splashing in water. Keep the splashing in the bathtub or buy a boat.

 

I avoid splashes like the plague. Water got into the distributor one night on my Nova in '76 running through puddles. I was no fun fixing it with temps in the 20's. (it was above freezing during the day) Lesson learned, Dad....was.....pissed. The deepest I have been in the 4R is top of the tires. I got a nice bow wave going and had no issues. Had to aim for that nearest tree and turn left when I reached it. If you went straight across, there was a drop-off.

 

This is another consideration. You must have good knowledge of the quality of the crossing. Here in the desert, we have dry washes that have roads built right through the bottom because they are dry 99.9999999% of the time. But when these washes run water there is a high likelihood the road/trail has washed out. We generally never cross these things until they have drained down sufficiently see what is going on. You can plop your entire engine bay into the drink just like that. (snap fingers)

 

Very bad idea. Old military buddy of mine said the only time they broke a Hummer was splashing onto the water. Broke the fan....

 

Out of all the things I considered, the fan having an issue was not one of them lol. Makes sense though.

 

Sweet pic. I would be too nervous to attempt it anywhere near the top of the tire. lol Although full disclosure, I have no real idea of the capabilities of my truck yet.
I believe this was about halfway up the tire, I was just going to fast for the steepness of the dip.
Which in reading these comments could have done a doozy on my fan.

 

Yeah, every monsoon season people watch it rain like mad up in the hills around Yuma, where I lived for nearly 30 years. Then, they look at where the road goes through a dry wash, and see 2" of water flowing through it. So they go into 4WD, and go up the dry wash, off roading, throwing up a rooster tail, and a big ol' bow wake.. Until they get caught by what's no longer a "DRY" wash. Then, the Sherriff's dept get's the luck to go get the bodies out of their super duper 4WD SUV that just can't be stopped. Until the flash flood catches them, anyhow.
Or they decidee that the water on the road isn't so deep, drive around the Sherriff's blockades, and are swept away.

Every year, the Sherriff's Dept. has to go gather up several people, who just won't LISTEN when warned about flash floods. After 30 years, hell after only a few years there, seeing flash floods happen so darn fast it's like you blink and the dry wash is a raging torrent, just that fast, I learned. And when we got two storms, a week apart, each one dumping twice our annual rainfall, 6" per storm, and I saw Yuma almost get washed into the Colorado River, I just stayed OUT of dry washes if there were clouds in the sky.
I had to drive out to work through one of them in my gen 1 4Runner that I had at the time. I had to pull off the road for a while. It was raining so hard, I couldn't see over the hood due to the rain hitting the hood so hard it was coming up as a fine mist. Like my own little fog bank on the hood! After while it slacked off enough I could actually see again. On the way home the next morning, I had to cross a dry wash on the road, but the flash floods had already come and gone. Thank goodness!

Just be very carefull around water any deeper than the puddle in Fry's parking lot. In Yuma. And that aint much!
Pat☺

 

Although you disclaimered obstructions in the OP, I always have this looney tunes vision of a big ol anvil sitting just under the water. In reality it's more likely a boulder or pit of course.
Had my '97 Pathfinder up to just below the headlights once, but the crossing was very well known to me, in fact it was dry that morning. Was willing to gamble against having to sit on a jobsite way out in the sticks all night. No consequences. Although I had the mechanic repack the wheel bearings not long after, he said the grease didn't look at all degraded.

 

That's another good point. The flash floods in the desert frequently (though not always) clear up in a couple of hours and you can see what you have to deal with. Folks get all worked up about being "stuck out here for days" and make poor choices.

 

Thanks for the heads up, Pat. Appreciate it.

 

I hear ya, I can envision creaming something in the water lol. From what I have seen down here, Mangrove root stumps are hidden everywhere in these deep pools

 

As an aside: the diff and gearbox breathers are level with the top of the wheel well.

 

Thanks, I will keep that in mind although I will be very careful from now on regarding what I choose to wade through. Shouting Leroy Jenkins and punching it doesn't suffice. ; p

 

It’s time for another episode of “Spalding’s Folksy Anecdotes.” Advisory: contains no useful information.

Many years ago I participated in an 4-day off-road driving and recovery course on the Rubicon trail. I was accompanied by a buddy who considers himself to be a man’s man. Also among the group were members of various law enforcement agencies, and particularly one striking young lady with the San Jose sheriff’s dept. Of course my man’s man buddy was taking every opportunity to impress her in ways both subtle and obvious. She pretended to be oblivious to his overtures.

So one morning we came across a small body of water, shaded by trees and deep enough for the bottom to be invisible. The instructor stopped us and we chatted about strategies to get across without incident. His first piece of advice was to wait for someone else to come along and play guinea pig, and, by observing him we could see the depth of the water. Then he asked what could be done if there were no guinea pig available. There were a few moments of silence before I said “I’m not afraid to get wet.” And waded out into the water. Beautiful San Jose deputy said “You’re my hero,” and man’s-man buddy smoldered with frustration, as he was single and on the lookout and I was married, loyal, and unavailable.

The lesson is to not be afraid to wade out there yourself. I figure if I can make it across without my crotch getting wet I’m good to go. Your inseam may vary.

 

BTDT

 

You crack me up.
But you're right. If you gotta cross, you gotta check it out.

 

I guess the real question is if I should get some waders or some tighty-whities for depth checking.

 

I'll be the only guy with a different opinion then... if it's a long and / or unknown depth crossing then I don't splish splash. I just take it easy as described by everybody above.

If it's a known shallow / short crossing I'll go full Splashy McGurk on it to the point the the wipers go on full before I even get to the crossing.

I've never had an issue.

Those type crossings are even more fun at speed on a motorcycle!

 

I couldn't even imagine on a motorcycle. lol

 

To be fair I have hydrolocked a motorcycle engine after full submersion in an unseen hole so it don't always go great on two wheels. Still hasn't changed my opinion about it though!

 

Fair enough lol

 

It makes for more dramatic photos!

 

The real question I have is, how do you know how deep it is, and what happens if you get stuck, since you dont know what kind of grip you’re gonna have down there?

Then, there’s the hydrolocking. The reality is that while it looks cool, and it is cool, its just not something I’d do on my new truck.

 

Run your breather lines. Most are already you can see in the bottom of the engine bay. Front diff, transfer case, transmission. Also your rear diff, and if you have a locker, the breather tube on it as well. Definitely want an aftermarket intake/snorkel as well